Chapter 36: Pick a Side, Pick a Side

It wasn’t the actual idea that was hard to explain but the reason why it seemed to excite me as much as it did.

I stared at the group around me, searching their faces for the expression that I hoped to see. Sure, it might have been unrealistic to expect them to all be as excited as I was but I did expect more.

I couldn’t help the pout that fell on my lips as I fell back into my seat. I was disappointed that none of my friends were as excited over the project as Dean and I, and I did not even have Dipi around to back me up.

She was a mixed species unlike my friends and would probably understand where I was coming from.

It was the next day, or afternoon specifically. Dipi had to go study with some of her other friends and it was the first thing I noticed when I had met the rest of our group at our usual spot.

Regardless, I had told all of them about the idea. I expected them to be just as excited if not more excited than me when I brought it up. Now I knew, however, that the expectation was unrealistic. They had all reacted the same way they would have if I got an A on a quiz or test, not as if we were talking about helping kids.

“You don’t need to pout, Sebastian.” Sam chuckled, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her pale arms around them. Harvey’s eyes went straight the point where her bum met the ground before they suddenly shot in the opposite direction.

Warlo chuckled when he saw it and while Sam probably thought it was for the same reason that she did but she was sadly mistaken.

I shook my head, turning away from Sam’s teasing gaze.

“What happened to kissing up to me as an apology?” I asked the redhead, my pouting getting larger without my notice. “I really don’t think that this will get me to forgive you faster.”

Sam scoffed loudly, the others joining her in her loud display. I shook softly, struggling to keep my laugh at bay. Eventually, they stopped and I released the large breath I had been holding on to.

“If you already know that it is happening, there isn’t much point of doing it now, is there Sebastian?” Thulani asked, raising a single brow with his statement. I blinked up at him stupidly before scowling.

“You say that as if you’re still in the safe zone.” I told him, waving a finger in the confidently. “There is still a whole relationship to repair, Lani. Don’t forget that.”

The mood suddenly got tense and Nick was quick to break up the awkward mood.

“Uh, so how have your classes been guys?” Nick asked awkwardly, his voice cracking a bit at the end. None of us felt like pointing it out and teasing Nick about it. Instead, we answered the question normally.

We went around, talking about classes and classmates. Most of it was complaining about classes, teachers, assignments, classmates, or all of them at once.

I noticed that Lani was acting a bit more distant than usual and used a gust of wind to grab his attention. I heard my friends chuckle at Lani startled reaction but ignored them, focusing solely on Lani himself.

“What’s up with you, how are your classes?” I asked, giving Lani a wide-eyed look. Lani winced, rubbing his cold arm, cold because of the wind, and shrugged.

“They’ve been alright. I’m a human so I don’t have any of your crazy magic or shifting classes. The worst I’ve experienced has been . . . ”

Thulani had finally been speaking in whole sentences and actually answering my question when he suddenly trailed off in the middle of his sentence. All of us were now intently at the tanned man but he just shook his head and sighed. “It’s nothing.”

“Bullshit.” Harvey cursed, standing up suddenly. “It’s probably because Dipi rejected your invite to hang out tonight when you were trying to get her attention.”

“Harvey!” Lani spat out, his eyes suddenly angry and narrowed at his taller friend. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” The paler man asked, smirking cruelly when he noticed how flustered Thulani suddenly became. “Exposing the fact that you have been making moves on his sister for months and it’s still going nowhere?”

“Harvey!” Warlo yelled this time, standing up and putting a firm hand on Harvey’s shoulder. “Please, that’s enough-”

“So you want to start comparing love lives?” Thulani asked heatedly, standing up as well. He walked up to Harvey, their faces inches apart. “At least I’ve actually been trying. You haven’t done a single thing to try to get the girl you like. But since you are so proud, why don’t I tell everyone about your die-hard crush on S-”

Harvey already had his hands raised, ready to push Lani. But, I was faster. I barely processed what I was doing until after I was done.

Lani suddenly sat on the grass far from Harvey with his lips sealed tightly together. There was a bit of panic in his eyes from physically being unable to open his mouth but I left him there for a moment, knowing that he would be fine.

“Enough you two!” I said, standing up and speaking authoritatively over the two of them. “I have no idea what is going on between the two of and I won’t pick sides either. Keep your fights to yourselves. We don’t need to be in the middle of it. And, by the way, it is not your place to be exposing feelings that aren’t your own, do you understand?”

Neither of them spoke and I felt a surge of irritation go through me.

“I said, do you understand?!” When the two of them nodded frantically, I finally relaxed. With a wave of my hand, I released the seal on Lani’s mouth and he started to open and close his mouth like a fish. It brought a tense chuckle to Sam’s lips and in no time at all, it spread around the entire group.

We were laughing, this crazy awkward fight had just broken out yet a second later, we were laughing?

That was probably why I became friends with them in the first place. I thought, jokingly.

Nick, once again, quickly changed the subject and we happily let him. We talked about lighter subjects that would, hopefully, not bring up anything awkward.

But, Lani and Harvey never directly spoke the rest of the time we were together. When it was time to leave, they both announced that they would be going to different places, neither being the dorms where they would probably bump into each other.

While I wasn’t happy about the fact that the two were fighting, it did make me curious.

What was happening between Lani and Dipika?

If I heard right, he was trying to pull some moves, but there weren’t effective at all against my sister. That brought a chuckle past my chapped lips. That was usually the case, but she probably would have completely shot him down at this point if that was the case.

I definitely had to look into that. And, I had to start pushing Sam and Harvey together. They would be couple goals and since I was happily matched up, I had the credentials to set my friends up.

That was obviously how these things worked, right?

I shrugged off the thought, waving goodbye to my friends and heading back to my place. While I would stay in my own place this evening, I had my phone on hand, ready to speak to Dean as long as I could.

What can I say, we just started dating. We are allowed to be as clingy and cheesy as we want. I summoned my phone and smiled happily when I saw the most recent text.

I giggled, not noticing Sam’s judging look and started to walk off to my room.

You

Miss you too

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Hey!

So, another chapter on the same day!

After the last one, I really felt like I needed to release another one. I felt like it was that good and it had been a while since I last updated so, bam!

Double update!

I hope you like this lighter chapter, I enjoyed writing it.

Now that our main ship is together, I focus a bit more on our sweet straight ships.

Anywhen,

They would be helpful, honestly.

Anywhy,